Rolex watch heist in Stuyvesant Plaza could draw 27 years

DNA from discarded Yankee hat helps nab robber at Frank Adams Jeweler

ALBANY — Federal prosecutors want a judge to consider imposing more than 27 years in prison on a three-time felon who took part in an armed jewel heist at Stuyvesant Plaza that left a 77-year-old employee with pepper-spray burns in her eyes.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Sharpe said "abominable predatory animals" were behind the March 15, 2012 robbery at Frank Adams Jewelers, where four thieves stole 20 Rolex watches totaling nearly $100,000 in worth, according to a pre-sentencing recommendation sent to Senior Judge Thomas McAvoy.

The judge will sentence Aristides Duartez, 37, on Oct. 11 at 3 p.m. in U.S. District Court. At least one victim is expected to deliver an impact statement.

Sharpe asked the judge to sentence Duartez to between 21 years and eight months and 27 years and two months.

The prosecutor said Duartez, who has two prior felony drug trafficking convictions in 1997 and 2006, was the gunman in a "horrible, heinous robbery" that began at 8 p.m. in the Guilderland shopping plaza. In addition to being pepper-sprayed, the 77-year-old woman was also "yanked down to the floor by her hair." And one of the other victims had just given birth, Sharpe said.

"Anyone who would engage in this conduct, especially when they have already twice before been to prison and apparently have learned nothing and certainly not changed their ways, should be kept off the streets and away from the law-abiding public for as long as possible," the prosecutor told McAvoy. "Duartez and the others who committed this robbery are violent and think of no one but themselves; they are extraordinarily dangerous."

The prosecutor did not identify any other participant. He laid out the sequence of events as follows:

On the night of the crime, Duartez and a second robber entered the store and distracted two employees. A third robber entered, walked over to a Rolex watch counter and used a hammer to smash it open, then stole the Rolex watches. Duartez drew his gun; the robbers directed two employees to a back room. A robber other than Duartez pulled out pepper spray and sprayed the 77-year-old woman in the face and eyes — even though she had been compliant and had been crying. The robbers put the victims on the floor of the back room and "zip-tied" their hands behind their backs. A third employee, who was already in the back room, hid in a bathroom and locked the door. One of the robbers shook the doorhandle as one of the other victims cried and insisted there were only two workers in the store. The robbers left.

Duartez was arrested after an investigation involving the FBI, Guilderland police and police from other states; similar robberies have taken place in Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Court papers show the Yankee hat Duartez wore during the heist was found in a backyard not far from the jewelry store. It was matched to him through DNA.

Duartez, who admitted being the gunman in 2014, pleaded guilty in May to one count of Interference With Commerce By Robbery and one count of Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence.

Duartez' attorney, Assistant Public Defender Paul Evangelista, said in a memo that his client was "lured by money, and the idea of being able to provide better for his daughter."

His client was "provided with a handgun by one of the other participants," the attorney argued.

"He did not even know a gun was going to be involved until they were on the way to the store," the attorney stated. "Mr. Duartez is not minimizing what he did, especially using the firearm, but compared to the other participant that entered the store, Mr. Duartez was far less aggressive toward the clerks."